What plants for my front yard?

[NoviceGardenLady]

Hello! I am a complete gardening novice after some tips and guidance on what might look good in my front yard.

I don't think I can send pictures because I'm a new member

Basically I am after tall (grows to about 5 feet) and bushy (will spread up to 1m ish) plants, preferably that flowers to add a bit of colour. I need to cover up a wall as much as possible.

I was thinking of a simple bush at the back (but what?) then even red hot pokers in front of that.

My garden is east-facing so gets full sun until about 1pm. I've been told the soil's acidic.
Once I am allowed to post pictures, I absolutely will do.

Any suggestions for plants really appreciated. Thank you!

Have a look around your neighbourhood at what is growing well and you like the look of. That should give you some ideas of what will work with the soil. You might even have a kind neighbour who will divide some of their plants for you.

you are looking for a wall shrub.

look on crocus.co.uk - they have good pictures & tell you the size a plant will grow to which is very useful. then can be expensive to buy but you'll get good ideas for reliable plants.

pyracanthus is good. also cotoneaster. Camellia might be OK

@MotherOfGodWeeFella

Have a look around your neighbourhood at what is growing well and you like the look of. That should give you some ideas of what will work with the soil. You might even have a kind neighbour who will divide some of their plants for you.

I'm always taking pictures of people's gardens

The issue is that my road has a slight hump in it. Me and my neighbour are at the top of the hump but everyone else's house is on the flat (or much less elevated than mine). So what looks nice in other gardens won't work for mind because my garden is about 3ft above street level. God, I wish I could post pictures, this sounds mad!

@parietal

you are looking for a wall shrub.

look on crocus.co.uk - they have good pictures & tell you the size a plant will grow to which is very useful. then can be expensive to buy but you'll get good ideas for reliable plants.

pyracanthus is good. also cotoneaster. Camellia might be OK

Oh thank you, I appreciate the website link. I'm not actually looking for the plant to grow up a wall or even up against it. There's a really small path between the bit I'm planting up and the wall itself so plants won't lie 'against' the wall as such or grow up it.

Again, I so wish I could post pictures

I'll try and find an image online which I can link to which is similar.

Hydrangea, pieris and camelias would be a few to start with maybe, all ok in acidic soil and liking a good sun bath then a bit of shade later in the day, if I remember correctly?

Okay so this is kind of what I'm talking about when I say the garden isn't at street level. The front of my house looks very similar to these two.

I'm after something to go in the front yard which will cover up the huge expanse of brick at the bottom of the bay window. My bay window bottom bit is actually probably bigger than these (i.e. more brick between the floor and the window ledge).

Are those hydrangeas in the front yard next door (on the left with the open door). They look lovely but would they be quite woody at the very bottom? The very bottom of the plant would be at eye-level when you're walking past on the street so I won't want too much woody-branchiness there.

Sorry for being so dense, really appreciate the help

Should've said, you can't see it in the above link but there's a small path (like 30cm wide) between the bay window and where the soil starts, hence not wanting something that grows against/up a wall.

Thank you!

I don’t think camellias are suitable for east facing positions as the morning sun can damage the flowers. Hard to see from that pic but possibly shrub roses on the left. David Austin has the best ones and many are repeat flowering.

@Stonecrop

I don’t think camellias are suitable for east facing positions as the morning sun can damage the flowers. Hard to see from that pic but possibly shrub roses on the left. David Austin has the best ones and many are repeat flowering.

Thank you. How easy are shrub roses to care for? I'm a complete novice so looking for something hardy that I won't kill

Red robin (or little red robin)?

Crocus

rhs

RHS state 'acid/neutral' soil but Crocus state 'neutral/alkaline'. Has anyone got one? I've only seen them in other gardens but they always look lovely.

I'd go for a mix and evergreen and deciduous shrubs - something like choisya has several varieties that are evergreen and has lovely sweet smelling flowers in spring/summer. A low growing acer, Japanese maple, would also be good. Hebe would also be good - lots of varieties to choose from and easy to look after, i.e. not much needed.

Azaleas are acid soil loving plants - available in deciduous and evergreen varieties.

@BambooWhoosh

Red robin (or little red robin)?

Crocus

rhs

RHS state 'acid/neutral' soil but Crocus state 'neutral/alkaline'. Has anyone got one? I've only seen them in other gardens but they always look lovely.

Oh, yes, I love red robin too but I've always been a bit cautious because of the gap between the front of the house and the actual soil - there won't be any 'support' for the red robin at the back because it's not up against a wall. I've only ever seen them against walls/fences or in corners of gardens.

@MotherOfGodWeeFella

I'd go for a mix and evergreen and deciduous shrubs - something like choisya has several varieties that are evergreen and has lovely sweet smelling flowers in spring/summer. A low growing acer, Japanese maple, would also be good. Hebe would also be good - lots of varieties to choose from and easy to look after, i.e. not much needed.

I do actually have a salix flamingo tree dead in the centre which just comes to the window ledge. I don't want to move my salix - its the only thing I've ever grown that hasn't immediately died

Choisya and hebe look great - choisya especially look really bushy which is what I'm after.
I'm going to need a bigger garden!!

Aha, it seems I'm now allowed to upload pictures!

So here's my front yard. Appreciate the advice so far. Any more advice gladly received

In a nutshell - full sun in the morning, acidic soil. Need a flowery bush that'll grow up to about 5ft tall and 1m wide. Thank you!

Looking at the pics I think I'd stick a load of lavender in! Obviously won't get as high and wide but would give that impression from the road.

I had a front garden similar to that, easy facing too, although with beds on the ground so more 'soily' and it had roses (gappy and spindly but looked the part) a camelia under the window and then a load of day lilies which I don't recommend one bit but they kept coming back.

Having seen the space and layout, I'd stick to a couple of things that won't grow beyond around 1m tall and put some perennials in and spring bulbs.

You've got some ajuga in I can in the first photo. Great for ground cover, so no bare soil and fewer weeds, plus it's evergreen.

@MotherOfGodWeeFella

You've got some ajuga in I can in the first photo. Great for ground cover, so no bare soil and fewer weeds, plus it's evergreen.

Yep, the ajuga was the only thing that 'took' a few years ago when I planted the yard up. It hasn't spread, just stays in that one little cluster. I like it but I need something tall to cover the huge amount of brick work.

@MotherOfGodWeeFella

Having seen the space and layout, I'd stick to a couple of things that won't grow beyond around 1m tall and put some perennials in and spring bulbs.

Any recommendations for stuff that won't grow more than a meter? I'd like the top of the new bushes (or whatever) to be level with the bottom of the leafy bit of the salix tree which is probably about 1m.

Any perennial recommendations? Again, a bit of height would be great!

Thank you!!

@Heyha

Looking at the pics I think I'd stick a load of lavender in! Obviously won't get as high and wide but would give that impression from the road.

I had a front garden similar to that, easy facing too, although with beds on the ground so more 'soily' and it had roses (gappy and spindly but looked the part) a camelia under the window and then a load of day lilies which I don't recommend one bit but they kept coming back.

My neighbour has lavender in her front yard - it's out of control

Why wouldn't you recommend daylilies? They look nice.

Another plan that I had was to plant something tall, flowery, and bushy (thinking hydrangeas) either side of the salix tree - equidistant from the tree and garden edge on each side.

Then to put some rectangular pots in front of that bush but tucked behind the very front wall so that the top of the pot is level with the 'hat' topping thing on the wall. Then plant some thing trailing/drapey/cascading which will grow over the top of the front wall. I was thinking Lobelia for this.

What do you all think?

I'm also going to plant some summer flowers in a rectangular pot to stick on top of the meter box.

God my front yard looks so bare at the moment

I wouldn't make a feature of the meter box tbh, I'd put a pot in front of it to hide it!

Why don't you go to a local garden centre armed with a list of plants and see what they have and what the information labels say about how big they grow? You'll get a better idea of what you like and what's easily available in the flesh.

Supermarkets are a great source of cheap perennials.

@MotherOfGodWeeFella

I wouldn't make a feature of the meter box tbh, I'd put a pot in front of it to hide it!

Why don't you go to a local garden centre armed with a list of plants and see what they have and what the information labels say about how big they grow? You'll get a better idea of what you like and what's easily available in the flesh.

Supermarkets are a great source of cheap perennials.

Haha, good point about the meter box. I'm trying to get a bit of colour up around the front door! There isn't space for a decent sized pot in front of it unfortunately.

I will be visiting the garden centre soon for sure - I just wanted an idea of things to look for. I'm a complete novice so would be like a deer in headlights! One of my neighbours is a landscape gardener and he's kindly said he'll take a look too.